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New York Times Reports, Trump Meets With Noem Amid Backlash Over Pretti Shooting; Video Contradicts DHS Account of Fatal Minneapolis Shooting; 200 Million-Plus People Remain Under Cold Alerts in Wake of Historic Ice Storm. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired January 27, 2026 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, reports of a two-hour Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the White House now distancing itself from what she said in the wake of Alex Pretti's killing. Is the president looking for a way to exit Minneapolis and save face while doing it?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Could a new dangerous winter storm be on the way, a new one? The latest forecast as there are new reports of deaths and millions without power from the brutal cold hanging over half the country.

And new video of a baby flying out the side door of an SUV. We'll tell you what happened next.

I'm John Berman with Kate Baldwin in New York. Sara Sidner is in Minneapolis. This is CNN News Central.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from Minneapolis, where sorrow and fury are still palpable in the streets here. But there have been a lot of fast moving developments in the past 24 hours. So, let's get you up to speed.

The pressure is clearly now growing on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her handling of the shooting death of Alex Pretti at the hands of Border Patrol agents. New York Times now reporting that Noem and her top aide, Corey Lewandowski, met with President Trump yesterday evening for about two hours. And sources telling the Times that the president did not suggest during that meeting that either of them were at risk of losing their jobs. However, it came after the president made a major leadership change here, pushing out Greg Bovino, the commander at large, and bringing in the border are Tom Homan.

We are waiting to see the result of that and what that might mean here. Border Patrol Commander Bovino has been at the center of many people's eye here with his actions and words in this town, blaming the victim of the shooting and praising the Border Patrol agents who killed him?

CNN's Whitney Wild has been following all of these developments. She is here with me in Minneapolis. We did notice that overnight there were more arrests as people come outside of hotels where they thought that Greg Bovino was staying, making noise and trying to disrupt people's sleep. It is a theme that we've seen happen here throughout the time that ICE has been here, as they look to the hotels where they believe ICE is staying and try to disrupt their sleep.

Let's go to Whitney Wild, who was watching the court actions yesterday in federal court and who has been on the ground watching the other actions that have been going on here. Whitney, what can you tell us?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Sara, good morning. We know that there was a very important court hearing yesterday where state and local officials raised serious concerns about DOJ's intention with evidence. They're very concerned that evidence will either be destroyed or tampered with before they have a chance to conduct their own investigation.

It is an extraordinary moment, Sara. We were in court where the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was filing a lawsuit that a DOJ official here, a DOJ lawyer, had to defend normally the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office and the BCA worked together. It was absolutely extraordinary to see two people who are normally partners on opposite sides of the courtroom.

Moving forward, FBI Director Kash Patel says they are opening an investigation into Signal chats among protesters. The FBI has also opened a crisis center here flooding this area with more investigative resources because they say that federal agents here are under unprecedented threat.

Here's more from FBI Director Kash Patel's interview with conservative influencer Benny Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: We, the FBI, are looking to the public for information on these events. We immediately opened up that investigation because that sort of Signal chat being coordinated with individuals, not just locally in Minnesota, but maybe even around the country. If that leads to a break in the federal statute or a violation of some law, then we are going to arrest people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Sara, meanwhile, a source is telling CNN that DHS investigators are looking through up to 30 body-worn cameras from agents who were on the ground during that incident, as well as body-worn camera from other agents who were in that general area, Sara.

[07:05:09]

This is, of course, as we've mentioned from the Alex Pretti shooting Saturday, that body-worn camera absolutely critical to this incident. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. And also we'd like to all know as well as investigators what is on Alex Pretti's phone as well, because he was obviously, we could see in the video, recording much of what happened.

Whitney Wild, great reporting from you this morning in a very frigid Minneapolis.

Let me turn now to our Juliette Kayyem, CNN senior national security analyst and former deputy director at DHS.

Let me ask you, Juliette, when you are looking at what's happening between the state and the federal authorities, what kind of a mess are we looking at here that could play out?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, let's just also say in these times, this also is unprecedented. I have been my 25 years in the field have not seen the antagonism and the mission orientation by the federal government to essentially antagonize state and local authorities as they try to keep the peace on their streets.

The federal law enforcement presence is the threat. I mean, this is just clear now. We know that it's their presence that is causing the escalation of the kind of violence that we saw on Saturday. And so it's not only unprecedented, it worries me for another reason. Since 9/11, essentially, you've had a coordinated effort through a variety of mechanisms, including the Joint Terrorism Task Forces but efforts to align state, local and federal resources against a common threat against common threats, including terrorism, drugs, cyber crimes, that unity of effort is just broken across the country. It is not just Minnesota. We have seen local law enforcement leaders, you know, that are conservative, pushing back against these ICE deployments.

SIDNER: Yes. Yes, I mean, Juliette that it is remarkable to see the fabric of the cooperation that was so important and talked about ad nauseum during 9/11 start to really fray because of what is happening here at the hands of federal agents and the surge, the numbers of federal agents here far overwhelming the number of police that exist in this town.

Now, I want to ask you about what we heard from FBI Director Kash Patel, where, once again, similar to what happened with the shooting and killing at the hands of an ICE agent with Renee Good, now the Border Patrol agent shooting and killing Alex Pretti, all of the -- both of them caught on camera. And you're hearing the FBI director not talk about an investigation into the officer-involved shooting but actually an investigation into the people who showed up to stand up against the officer.

What does this tell you about where their focus is and how different it is from what we have seen historically?

KAYYEM: So, yes, and I think the jury's still out about whether the significant changes that the White House did in retreating from their previous stance in Minnesota, whether it's window dressing or not, I am pleased that Bovino is off the streets. I think he was a menace in terms of how he presented himself and how he represented immigration authority. We will see if the border czar, Homan, who is there will be able to de-escalate. He seems committed to that. I know he too has a lot of critics, but he has a history. I know him from the Department of Homeland Security. He knows how to run an agency. It appears that Trump's meeting with Noem was about the communication strategy and not about the agenda.

Look, the agenda is still there. ICE has massive amounts of money because of the GOP Senate giving them that. They have a weird mandate now that has little to do with immigration enforcement. They have numbers being pushed by Stephen Miller in terms of deportations, and now they have the FBI director saying we're going against citizens rather than unlawful activities.

So, we will see whether the agenda changes to reflect what the American people want or whether this is just a communication strategy by the White House because of what they -- because of the slander and the lies that came out of the White House over the weekend.

[07:10:05]

SIDNER: Yes. Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much. And you do point out a really important part, piece of this, and that is that there is a numbers game going on here, a quota, if you will, game going on here, at the same time as the president is trying to say this is about just simple immigration enforcement and getting what he has said were, you know, dangerous criminals off the street. That is not who is being pulled off the street here in large numbers if you ask the folks, and we've talked to someone who was pulled in, who was a legal resident here and was there for almost a week but had legal papers and then was eventually let out. There is just a lot of fury here about how things are being conducted and those numbers, that quota that they're trying to get to on a regular basis is causing a lot of friction. John?

BERMAN: All right. Thanks so much, Sara.

Record-breaking cold, millions without power, that's now and not good. What's worse? There could be a new dangerous storm on the way.

A CNN exclusive, brand new details about covert CIA operations inside Venezuela.

And then what a way to visit a hotel. You can check in anytime you like and fly right through it at 125 miles per hour.

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[07:15:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, millions of Americans are waking up after another night of no power and below freezing temperatures. From Arkansas to New England, more than 200 million people are still facing weather threats, now extreme cold alerts. Overnight in the Pittsburgh area, wind chills reached negative 25 degrees. And now, more than a dozen deaths have been reported in states in the aftermath of this winter storm we've been watching since the weekend. In New York City, officials say eight people died from exposure in sub-zero temps.

As The New York Times put it this morning about the whole -- basically, the entire south, the forecast predicted the storm could be amongst the worst in a generation to hit the region. By Monday, The New York Times rights, it was clear that is exactly what happened.

In Tennessee, ice snapped power lines and down trees. Around Nashville, many hotels were sold out as residents look for warmth and safety as there is so many homes are still without power. Crews say that they have 300 linemen working around the clock in those very same freezing temperatures to restore power quickly.

This morning, Tennessee and Mississippi remain the states with the highest number of power outages, but you see how they are still high in many places. Other states are showing slight improvements there. Nashville, Baltimore, Memphis, Dallas are among the major -- the many major public school systems still closed today. Schools in Prince Georges County, Maryland, won't reopen, they say, until Friday.

One bright-ish spot, flight cancelations are easing up. The FAA is targeting Wednesday, tomorrow, to be back to, quote/unquote, normal. John?

BERMAN: Yes. A Not bright spot, natural gas prices surging, the highest since 2022, more than double what they were just 10 days ago.

CNN's Matt Egan is here with this. This is tough.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. John, look that's just the monster move we've seen from natural gas prices and it's really all because of this extreme winter weather, which is scrambling both demand and supply.

So, as recently as January 16th, natural gas was trading at around $3. But look at this, it's more than doubled in the span of just 11 days, above $6, highest levels that we've seen in more than three years. Thankfully, gas futures are down a little bit this morning but only just a drop in the bucket, because look at that line chart, it's basically gone vertical.

So, the big issue here, of course, is demand. Obviously, these extremely cold temperatures and the wind chill that you can see on the map, that has caused Americans to crank up the heat in natural gas is the number one way to heat homes in America. And it's these forecasts for temperatures to stay cold for the coming days. That is also unnerving the energy market.

But it's not just the fact that demand is high. It's that just as demand has gone up, supply has gone down. That's because these extreme cold temperatures are impacting Texas, Louisiana, Appalachia. And what can happen is when it's that cold, you can have ice that can slow or even derail the gas production in those leading natural gas hubs.

And we've seen almost historic levels of natural gas production losses. The record was set in early 2021 during that historic storm when 18 billion cubic feet of gas was knocked offline. On Sunday alone, we had 17 billion cubic feet of natural gas knocked offline. So, it's that one-two combination.

Now, I should note that natural gas is it's just notoriously volatile in price, right? I mean, it might be the most volatile commodity on the planet. And there's a history of extreme winter weather causing these spikes. And then as temperatures inevitably warm up, prices come back down.

So, analysts tell me, John, that these current prices, they're not sustainable as temperatures eventually warm up. Prices should come down but maybe not as low as they were before the storm. And we've got to watch this carefully because people are already dealing with sticker shock when they're opening their utility bills.

[07:20:02]

This situation could make matters even worse.

BERMAN: And we got to watch the forecast carefully too, because there could be more on the way.

Matt Egan, thank you very much.

New details after an ex-Olympian pleads not guilty to running a billion dollar drug smuggling ring.

A 19-month-old falls out of a moving car and into traffic, how that baby is doing this morning.

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BOLDUAN: In men's college hoops, the nation's top team faced its toughest road test yet in trying to stay undefeated.

Coy Wire has much more on this. Good morning, darling.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Good morning, sunshine. 49 days away from the men's March Madness Tournament, almost time to fill out those brackets. You kick my butt every year.

[07:25:00]

You humble me every year, Kate. I have to pick a bone with you.

Freshman Phenoms Cameron Boozer of Duke and BYU's A.J. Dybantsa, they could be the top two picks in the NBA draft coming up both in action last night. Number 13 BYU and Dybantsa hosting the number one team in the nation out of the big 12, Arizona Dybantsa coming off of school freshman record 43-point game, he dropped 24 in this one. But in the final seconds, BYU down just one and Arizona's freshman Brayden Burries flying in like Superman, saving the day to block the shot. Burries carries the Cats in this one at season-high 29, he had 3 steals. Arizona holds off 86-83. They're now 21-0, tying the best start in the program's illustrious history.

Number four Duke, the Cameron Crazies and Cameron Boozer hosting number 23 Louisville. Duke is up ten at halftime. They were 51-0 at home under Coach John Shire when leading at the break, make that 52-0. Boozer had 19 points, 10 rebounds. Duke dominates 83-52, their largest win against any A.P.-ranked team in eight years, handing Louisville their worst loss in two years. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT KELSEY, LOUISVILLE HEAD COACH: Sometimes, you know, you say to yourself, it's never as good as it seems, never as bad as it seems. But as I sit here just walking out of that locker room and walking off that floor, you know, we've all got our freaking butts whooped before. And that's how I feel right now, we got our freaking butts whooped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: That's how I feel when Kate fills out her bracket against me.

Australian Open action just hours ago. Number three Coco Gauff, youngest player to reach a women's singles Grand Slam quarters in six consecutive years since Martina Hingis and Venus, well, she's upset by Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-2, and she takes out all the frustrations on our racket. Two other Americans still to play in the quarters. Jess Pegula and Amanda Anisimova will play each other. Here's Coco on this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COCO GAUFF, AMERICAN OUSTED IN :59 AT AUSSIE OPEN QUARTERS: I don't try to do it on court in front of kids and things like that. But I do know I need to let out that motion. Otherwise, I'm just going to be snappy with the people around me and I don't want to do that because, like I said, they don't deserve it. They did their best. I did mine. Just need to let the frustration out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Great awareness there by Coco. She said she didn't know there were cameras.

Now, Svitolina, she's 31, Kate. She's going to be back into the top ten for the first time since having a baby in 2022. She'll be back in the top ten. She will face Ayna Sabalenka next in the semi-finals. She'll be one to watch.

BOLDUAN: Definitely wanted to watch. And I hear Coco. I think everyone needs a tennis racket to just bash on the ground sometimes just to let it out. I was saying, I was telling the crew, like trying to get my kids to go to bed last night, could use that tennis racket, could use that tennis racket.

Fun fact, Coy, the year I did the best when it came to the bracket, half of them, well, I had a secret weapon called my husband. And I also then chose some no joke based on their jerseys, proof that if you look good, you play good.

WIRE: I've been doing it wrong all these years. I'm going to heed your advice. You kick my butt every year, a butt whooping.

BOLDUAN: A broken clock is right twice a day, buddy. It's great to see you. Thank you. Ahead for us, here's a line from the governor of California, it's time to investigate. Gavin Newsom now vowing to look into TikTok over allegations of censoring users who criticize the Trump administration and ICE. TikTok says it's a tech glitch.

What do you do when you come upon the newly minted world's tallest hotel? Great idea, obviously, you skydive through it. We have a wild video for you.

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